Anna

At one point in the escape room, Mareen had to spank us with a leather paddle... it was definitely an experience...

Baltrum is one of those strange little places you find on Germany’s islands, where nothing much ever happens except for the twice-daily ferry that brings in and carries away the tourists. I have a peculiar fascination with villages like this. They feel like a theatre production where most of life revolves around serving tourism, but the actors and crew can’t leave the stage when the season ends and no one is left to watch the show.

We drove to Bremerhaven, very close to where I grew up, to visit the Klimahaus and my father. It was a surreal experience to be in those places with Anna. I usually try to avoid going there, but this time it was nice, even if Linus, my father’s ageing dog, tore a ligament later that day while trying to chase a cat.

Being back at the sea did something to me. The sounds, the sights, I love it all. Every summer of my childhood, I spent all six weeks of the holidays by the sea. No internet, barely any infrastructure, just me, my boredom, crabs, seagulls, and the ever-changing tides. Come to think of it, it might be my favourite childhood memory.

Anna's mother had always dreamed of doing a Wattwanderung, a walk through the Wadden Sea at low tide to one of the nearby islands. So we packed our things, rented a car and a house, and made our way to Germany's north coast, where I'm originally from.

In Germany, we have the saying "Man muss die Feste feiern, wie sie fallen", which loosely translates to "You have to celebrate the good times as they come". We tried. We failed. Oh well.

Busses are the worst kind of public transportation. Change my mind!

I lied to Anna for her own good, because I’d prepared a little gift for her, and her investigative skills were dangerously close to ruining the surprise. Thankfully, I’m apparently a pathological liar, because she didn’t suspect a thing and was very happy to receive this little robin.

My reading can sometimes be a little too intense for Anna.

I love winning battles against that inner voice telling me not to do hard things. It feels great.

This might be my absolute favorite comic from this year of daily comics so far.

I don’t know why, but the ending of Disclosure Day made me cry?!

Sometimes quality time together means doing things separately, but side by side.

We successfully built everything. Let’s just not mention how, a couple of days later, a real handyman had to come and bolt it all to the wall properly.

This is somehow not as shocking to anyone else as it is to me, but how was this cocktail only invented in 2008? We had smartphones then! How did nobody, in all those years before that, think to smash up a bit of basil and throw some random alcohol into it?! It’s absurd!

Anna’s new kitchen was installed on Monday, and I saw it for the first time on that evening. It’s beautiful!

Germany seems to have a reputation for apartments being rented without kitchens. A couple of people have told me that, though I can’t confirm it myself. I’ve never moved into an apartment that didn’t have a kitchen. Maybe I’ve just been lucky.

My journal entry from two years ago (just a classic text-based journal) ended with me promising myself I wouldn’t spend my birthday alone the following year. And I didn’t.

Last year, I invited my friends over on the evening of my birthday, and it was wonderful. Now many of them have babies, so this year I invited them over on Sunday afternoon for coffee and cake instead. It was great.

I went to bed blissful and full of gratitude.

I didn't get engaged that day.

I turned 37 on that day! That number doesn’t remotely reflect the age I feel I should be, but who am I to argue with Chronos?

This was the first vacation I never wanted to end. But I was also glad to be back with the cats.

Visiting Tower Bridge while melting wasn’t exactly a highlight of this trip, but I’m glad I saw it.

London’s parks are on another level. Ted Lasso didn’t lie about Richmond’s beauty, and Anna surprised me with a Sofar Sounds concert in an old chapel.

We had quite a social day. Notting Hill is unbelievably beautiful.

Big Ben is far prettier than I expected. I thought it would be just a boring old tower, but it’s so detailed!

We arrived in London, and I couldn’t have had a better initial impression. I loved it from the very first second.

We didn’t have a single day with fewer than 20,000 steps, and after a while, it definitely started to show.

I expected to like Edinburgh more than I did. The people were great, but the city just didn’t have the right vibe for me.

What's up with GBP? It feels like fake plastic money!

I later discovered that Waterstones is just the starting point. There are so many incredible bookshops in the UK. What a paradise!

Aaand we're off to the UK. First Glasgow and Edinburgh, then London.

Packing is the worst. I’m not even bad at it, it just isn’t fun. It’s like a puzzle where the result will never be perfect, and you just have to live with the compromises. Especially when you’re flying with only carry-on luggage.

I love city life, great weather, and days where you don’t have a plan and just let things unfold.

It was a cute little day.

My hand felt a bit numb this morning. The doctor said it might be because Millimeter hit a tendon. It got better over the course of the day.

Millimeter sometimes misjudges her strength. She just wanted to tell me to stop petting her, and I didn’t recognize the signs. My bad.

Anna’s moving day is close. We’re still working our way through Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I love how the story picks up in this book. It suddenly gets much more serious and dark.

Home Improvement

It was a slow and cozy day.

It was the Long Night of Museums. You buy one ticket and can visit every museum of the city.

I slept like a baby after this day.

That weird red splotch is from me not noticing my nosebleed quickly enough.

The Döner wasn't even good. Fantastic company, though.

Running became fun again once I stopped winging it and went back to following a plan.

I actually had to go back to the popcorn person and switch mine, because they accidentally gave me salty popcorn too.

Sophisticated Saturday

This marks the end of our little Barcelona adventure.

Our second to last day in Barcelona.

I miss my little Boldu buddy.

Not even the very expensive tickets could lessen my amazement about Sagrada Família.

I'll never enjoy flying. It's against nature and shouldn't be possible.

I kind of messed up the background. Please don't unfollow me because I'm not good enough at art.